Dugout Canoes

A rare archaeological find from the Don River (Central Russia), a large dugout found in 1954 is described. The history of discovery, fieldwork and conservation are outlined. The key role at all stages belonged to Maria Voss, who did her best to unearth and preserve this dugout - the first Prehistoric one to be found, restored and exhibited in the USSR. She passed away before being able to describe the boat in detail. Its age is still under question, certain facts relating to the archaeological context contradict the  old dating version (Neolithic-Early Bronze Age) and no C14 analysis has been conducted. A brief review of Stone Age European dugouts is provided.

In this  preliminary presentation the Author shows the first results of the underwater excavations she conducted in an ancient Neolithic village (called "La Marmotta") at present located on the seabed of Lake Bracciano, in northern Lazio.
The history of the discovery, the identification of a new Neolithic cultural facies (the facies of La Marmotta), the data of absolute and relative chronology, the structures and the economy of the village, the boats and the surrounding environment are briefly described.

In questo lavoro preliminare l'Autrice rende noti i primi risultati degli scavi subacquei da lei condotti  in un villaggio del Neolitico Antico (denominato "La Marmotta") attualmente ubicato nei fondali del lago di Bracciano, nel Lazio settentrionale.
Sono brevemente descritti la storia del rinvenimento, la scoperta di una nuova facies culturale neolitica (la facies de La Marmotta), i dati di cronologia assoluta e relativa, le strutture e l'economia del villaggio,  le imbarcazioni e l'ambiente circostante.

The dugout canoes discovered in the neolithic site of La Marmotta (in the waters of Lake Bracciano) are among the oldest in Europe. This article discusses the second dugout –
named La Marmotta 2 – recovered in 1998.
After analysis of the excavational data regarding its resting condition on the bottom of the lake, this article describes the recovery, conservation and restoration techniques as well as the specifications of the dugout itself. It is hypothesized that fire, lithic axes, and chisels were used to dig and shape the dugout.
In conclusion, suggestions are made as to the possible uses of the vessel.

The double canoe which was brought by ancestors of present-day Negritos to Southeast China and Taiwan served as original watercraft of the Malayo-Polynesian dispersal, the first waves of which were carried out by people with equatorial (dark) complexion. A tradition of maritime communication and trade seems to have developed in the South China Sea, with exchange of material culture between indochina and the Philippines, leading up to a metal-age Sahuynh-Kulanay complex. A boat-burial rite seems to likewise have developed, transmitted as far east as Hawaii, bt also into the mainland up the Mekong as mell as Salween, Irrawady, and Brahmaoutra. A further development, already in the metal age, was apparently the ship-of-the-dead cult. Meanwhile Negrito (and Papuan) westward shipping, already since before the Malayo-Polynesian dispersal, apparently brought the banana and the coconut to India. Negrito seafarers who, like also subsequently arrived Malayo-Polynesians, settled on the Bay of Bengal coast, may have been referred to in early Indian literature as Nagas.

Este libro presenta una propuesta interdisciplinaria para el estudio de la tradición de la navegación indígena en Mesoamérica y su transformación en la Colonia. Esta actividad se entiende como un sistema de conectividad del paisaje que implica el uso de ríos, lagunas, humedales y esteros, junto con caminos terrestres. A falta de datos suficientes, se elabora un modelo de análisis espacial con el uso de sistemas de información geográfica; éste integra variables geográficas con las cuales se identifican las áreas y vías fluviales potencialmente navegables. Los resultados de este análisis espacial y de los datos arqueológicos recabados se confrontan con una reconstrucción elaborada desde información contenida en mapas y documentos históricos.

This book presents interdisciplinary research on the tradition of indigenous navigation in Mesoamerica in both the Pre-Hispanic period and following its transformation into a colony of Spain. This activity is understood as a landscape connectivity system that involves the use of rivers, lakes, wetlands and estuaries, as well as roads. In the absence of sufficient data, the author developed a model of spatial analysis using geographic information systems (GIS); it integrates geographic variables that identify which fluvial areas and waterways are potentially navigable. The results of this spatial analysis and archaeological data are compared with a reconstruction of the fluvial navigational network prepared from information contained in historical maps and texts.

An expanded and extended dugout is still a very prominent vessel amongst traditional fisheries at the coast of Myanmar, whether as a small fishing boat or as underbody for larger ‘ships’. A description of this watercraft can be presented as a result of four research trips carried out between 2004 and 2011. The focus lies on the description of the expanded and extended dugout known as Hlei, especially the constructional changes and usage of this fishing vessel. Is it possible to show the transition from the ancient small fishing boat to a modern, very functionally designed wooden watercraft? Additionally, an overview
of the diversity of types within traditional boatbuilding at Myanmar’s coasts and – to a certain extent – rivers shall be provided.

The Autor describes many ceramic boat models which were discovered in the Early Neolithic settlement of La Marmotta, built on the shores of Lake Bracciano (not far from the Tyrrhenian sea).
A typology about these findings has been developed and some suggestions have been made on dating, both relative and absolute. 
Some hypoteses have also been made regarding the use of the ceramic boat models as lanterns and their symbolic function.
My full publication of the  38 ceramic boats models found in the village unfortunately is still in press (since 2010!) in Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana (Magazine of the Italian Ministry of Culture).

In questo articolo ho presentato in via preliminare soltanto alcuni dei numerosi modellini fittili di imbarcazioni recuperati nell'abitato peri-lacustre del Neolitico Antico de "La Marmotta" (Lago di Bracciano, Lazio), con le relative attribuzioni tipologiche e cronologiche (sia relative che assolute).
Dopo aver paragonato le fogge dei modellini di natanti presentati a quelle di imbarcazioni reali, ne ho ipotizzato un utilizzo come lucerne ed una funzione anche simbolica, aggiungendo considerazioni su possibili forme di ritualità in uso nel villaggio.
Purtroppo è ancora in corso di stampa (dal 2010!) nel Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana un mio lungo  articolo dedicato all’edizione completa dei 38 modellini fittili di imbarcazioni rinvenuti nell'area del villaggio.

A diferencia de otras civilizaciones del mundo antiguo, como las del Mediterráneo o del Sureste de Asia, las culturas mesoamericanas no son particularmente famosas por su historia marítima o por su arquitectura naval. No obstante, existieron en el mundo prehispánico, dos célebres ciudades lacustres, Tayasal entre los mayas y Tenochtitlan-Tlatelolco entre los mexicas, que obviamente necesitaron ejercer un control estricto y muy complejo de su entorno acuático para alcanzar su prosperidad.

A biographical approach to watercraft technologies in the Mesolithic of Denmark - A focus on a canoe and paddle found at the site of Tybrind Vig, Denmark, examining the ways in which it was created, used and discarded to understand the knowledge behind the artefact.

Navigation implies a deep knowledge of the environment in which it is practised as well as the development of correlated technologies and techniques. In fact, sailing in lakes, rivers, along coasts or in high seas requires specific skills. This is why watercraft reflect the specific expertise of cultures in relation to the available resources and materials. Navigation as a means of movement and boats as modes of transportation is a well-documented topic in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Ocean, whether focusing on antiquity or the present. Nonetheless, in the New World, especially in Mesoamerica where the Aztec, Tarascan or Mayan Empires flourished, indigenous maritime history has been thoroughly under-investigated. This article explores the first prehispanic dugout canoes of the region, based on a multidisciplinary approach for the Mexico and Pátzcuaro Basins, in the Late Postclassic period (AD 1325-1521) proposes the first prehispanic dugout canoes typology, based on a multidisciplinary approach for the Mexico and Pátzcuaro Basins, in the postclassic period (1325-1521).
For the first time, a typology of these dugout types is proposed, with a discussion of the importance of dugout canoes as a means of transportation in Mesoamerican civilizations, where wheels and draught animals did not exist.

The dugout canoe was used across the Americas, and was possibly the most popular of all aboriginal watercraft. In its simplest form, the dugout is a clumsy watercraft, little more than a hollowed log; but skilled native craftsmen could transform a tree trunk into a massive, curved hull designed to move with incredible speed and to withstand very rough seas. The distribution of dugout canoes extends from the farthest reaches of Alaska along the northern Pacific coast and into California, from the Great Lakes south throughout the Mississippi basin and the Southeast; across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, and into the Amazon and along the northern Pacific coast of South America. Dugout canoes played vital roles in prehistoric and historic trade, food procurement, and warfare; they permitted regional networks of transportation, communication, and sociocultural interaction across the Americas. The very nature of this watercraft and its integral part in social development makes it a unique way for the archaeologist to view communities through time. This paper provides and overview of the dugout canoe in the New World, reviewing the archaeological, historical, and ethnographical literature, and presents regional and functional variations in dugout construction, structure, and sailing technology.

In a brief summary the Author describes the preliminary results of its investigations in the neolithic Settlement submerged in the Lake Bracciano (Lazio, Italy). The Author describes the cultural facies, the economic basis, the settlement’s model, the structures and the religious beliefs of the community that has been living on the shores of the lake from the first half of the sixth millennium BC. The Author believes that the people who founded the large village had brought with them from motherland - in addition to domesticated plants and animals and to a rich heritage of technological knowledge - religious conceptions and images connected to a complicated symbolic universe (such as stylized human figures, the sun, ears, butterflies, wild goats, etc.). The Author compares the material culture and the dates of absolute chronology of the village of La Marmotta with those of other Neolithic settlements in Italy, in Corsica, in the Balkan Peninsula, in Macedonia, in Thessaly and in few western regions of  the Near East.

In una brevissima  sintesi l’Autrice descrive i risultati preliminari delle indagini da Lei condotte nell’insediamento del Neolitico attualmente sommerso dalle acque del lago di Bracciano (Lazio, Italy).  Fornisce indicazioni relative alla facies culturale, alle basi economiche, al modello insediamentale, alle strutture ed alle credenze religiose della comunità  insediata sulle rive del lago dalla prima metà del VI millennio a.C.. Ipotizza che le genti che fondarono il grande villaggio avessero portato con sé dalla madre patria - oltre a piante ed animali domesticati e ad un ricco patrimonio di conoscenze tecnologiche - concezioni religiose ed immagini ricollegabili ad un complesso universo simbolico (quali figure umane stilizzate, il sole, spighe, farfalle, capre selvatiche, ecc.). Mette in relazione e confronta la cultura materiale e le date di cronologia assoluta elaborate per il villaggio de La Marmotta con quelle di altri insediamenti neolitici in  Italia, Corsica, penisola balcanica, Macedonia, Tessaglia e le regioni occidentali del Vicino Oriente.

Canoes, and the protocols attached to them, play a central role in cultural revitalization and resilience for many Indigenous nations of the Pacific Northwest. The revitalization of canoe culture is most visibly present in Tribal Journeys, a weeks-long paddle and gathering of Indigenous nations that annually brings together thousands of Native American/First Nations citizens. The Chinook Indian Nation has been an active and early participant in canoe resurgence in general, and Tribal Journeys specifically. For the Chinook, canoe protocols reflect a vision of "reciprocal heritage" that is located in embodied practice, is based in tribal cultural values of reciprocity and place, and is forward-looking. Perhaps most importantly, canoe culture and the performance of protocols occur explicitly outside of the framework of the colonial nation-state. In this sense the performance of protocol is not just an aspect of culture, it is fundamentally an act of decolonization.

1924 őszén a korabeli sajtó egy „párját ritkító” régészeti felfedezésről adott hírt: a tószegi Laposhalmon folytatott ásatások során egy fából készült csónak maradványai kerültek elő. Jelen tanulmány ennek a sanyarú sorsú, a magyarországi bronzkorból máig példa nélkül álló leletnek a történetét járja körül. Az írás kísérletet tesz a csónakkal kapcsolatban rendelkezésre álló különféle források bemutatására, majd azok kritikai elemzésén keresztül a tárgy fizikai jellemzőinek, előkerülési körülményeinek, valamint későbbi sorsának rekonstruálására.

In the autumn of 1924, the contemporary press reported an unparalleled archaeological discovery: the remains of a wooden boat were found during the excavations at Tószeg-Laposhalom. The present study reveals the story and rugged biography of this finding which is still unprecedented from the Bronze Age of Hungary. The article attempts to present the various sources available on the boat and, through their critical analysis, to reconstruct the physical characteristics of the object, its archaeological context, and its subsequent history.

Watercraft, society and aquatic environment in prehistory: interactions. In: Prehistoric research in Greece and its perspectives: theoretical and methodological problematics. Proceedings of the International Symposium to the memory of D. R. Theocharis (Thessaloniki and Kastoria 1998), p. 179-185.
Abstract:
Watercraft, as an artifact, depends on the available raw materials, on the technological possibilities in a particular place and time and on the maker's know-how. As a tool. its goal is to respond, taking the form of specific types, to the particularities of the aquatic environment (lake, marsh, river, sea) and to the human needs that it is intended to cover.
Use of watercraft, man's response to the presence of water in the environment, facilitates everyday life, offers a precious means for the exploitation of closer, as well as of otherwise inaccessible possibilities, but also dictates modes of behaviour. Watercraft influences, in its turn, the environment, as well as man.
Concurrently, not only in regard to its construction, but also during use, watercraft receives the cultural and ideological influence of the social group within which it is created and within which it functions. At the same time, as a result, besides its practical importance, it also acquires a symbolic meaning for its creator.
The paper is based mainly on finds from Greece, dating from the Neolithic period and Bronze Age, on parallels from other regions, and on ethnographic evidence.

Contents :
Introduction
Boat models : morphological characteristics and attempt towards identification
Boat models : context and function
Neolithic watercraft: raw materials and technological possibilities of construction
Neolithic boats: environment
Neolithic boats: uses
Conclusions

Introduction
Maquettes d'embarcations: caractères morphologiques et essai d'identification
Maquettes d'embarcations: contexte et fonction
Embarcations néolithiques: matières premières et possibilités technologiques de construction
Embarcations néolithiques: environnement
Embarcations néolithiques: utilisations
Conclusions

The paper examines the available evidence about Neolithic boat models and boats for inland or maritime navigation in Greece and the surrounding regions. It is the first part of the paper: Marangou Christina 1996: From Middle Neolithic to Early Bronze Age: Consideration of early boat models. In H. Tzalas (ed.), Tropis IV, Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity (Athens 1991), Athens, 277-293.

The development and character of the so-called Scandinavian boat building tradition has traditionally been debated. It is a common thought that this tradition dates back to the beginning of the Christian era. But what happened before? The Bronze Age vessels that seem countless on rock carvings and bronzes, but nevertheless are few in the reality of the archaeological material – which tradition do they represent? In this essay it is suggested that the Scandinavian tradition was developed as early as the beginning of the Bronze Age. The basis for this suggestion is a number of observations made on ship depictions, ship settings and wrecks. The Bronze Age ship wrecks are few, but not non-existing, though. From the European continent, the British Isles and Scandinavia several log boats are known, which share important technological features like hewn out frames, rectangular/trapezoid cross-section and a considerable length (fig. 1). There are indications of relationship between these log boats and the Bronze Age plank boats, which are known from Britain (fig. 2). Furthermore a general continuity in boat technology can be traced throughout Bronze and Iron/Viking Age. This is supported by iconographical, maritime technological and monumental evidence. As regards iconography similarities in stern/stem and rudder elements are seen in Bronze Age rock carvings and Gotlandic picture stones, rune stones and Viking Age coinage (fig. 3). Concerning technology the most evident example of continuity throughout 2200 year is the hewn out cleats that occurs on the British Bronze Age plank boats, the Hjortspring boat, the Nydam boat and Gokstad ship among others (fig. 4). Another indication of continuity is a number of Bronze Age ship settings showing the pointed oval shape that characterize the Scandinavian boat type (fig. 5 b-c). Thus it seems that the Scandinavian boat building tradition has roots as early as in the Bronze Age and maybe the strange, enigmatic ship depictions on rocks and bronzes should not be perceived so strange at all.

The submerged settlement of ‘La Marmotta’ (Anguillara Sabazia, Roma) in Lake Bracciano is a biological archive of exceptional importance. It
represents the oldest Neolithic lake settlement in all of Europe (sixth millennium BC) and has produced a considerable amount of data. The archaeologicalsurfaces of damp sites offer a rich source of paleo-environmental, biological and cultural data.
The excellent state of preservation of organic remains buried in submerged settlements permits detailed reconstruction of the way of life of ancient human communities, the surrounding natural habitat, and the relationship between man and the environment.
All organic and non-organic remains, such as wood, bone, horn, pottery, seeds, etc. when immersed in water for an extended period of time, undergo chemical, physical and biological degradation. This often results in profound structural changes depending on the nature of theartefact, the length of time the object has been in the water, the surrounding environmental conditions such as pH, pollution and the nature of the
sediment. It is particularly important for organic remains to undergo protective treatment immediately on removal from the water. The artefacts may be subjected to further treatment for disinfection,
restoration and conservation.
The treatment of a large, one-piece oak canoe, found in the village under 8 m of water, was described to illustrate the restoration procedures.

Долбленая лодка с Дона в экспозиции Государственного исторического музея: история находки и проблема датировки Статья посвящена редкой археологической находке – большой долбленой лодке, обнаруженной на среднем Дону в 1954 г. Подробно описана история обнаружения, полевых работ и последующих событий, связанных с этим экспонатом из по-стоянной экспозиции Государственного исторического музея. Автор раскопок М.Е. Фосс сделала все, что было в ее силах, для полевой фиксации, транспортировки, консервации и музеефикации данной лодки. Это была первая доисторическая долбленка в СССР, исследованная в процессе археологических раскопок, тщательно отреставрированная и выставлен-ная на специально оборудованном мобильном постаменте. М.Е. Фосс, к сожалению, вскоре ушла из жизни и не успела всесторонне изучить находку. Вопрос о датировке этой лодки остается открытым по сей день. Хотя она выставлена в зале с материалами мезолита – энеолита и отнесена в публикациях к концу III – началу II тыс. до н.э., сейчас это может быть поставлено под сомнение из-за определенных особенностей контекста находки и отсутствия радиоуглеродных дат. В работе также представлен краткий обзор других лодок каменного века в Восточной и Западной Европе; обозначены проблемы, связанные с их обнаружением, реставрацией и экспонированием. A rare archaeological specimen from the Middle Don River, a large dugout found in 1954, is described. The history of discovery, fi eldwork, and conservation are outlined. The key role at all stages belonged to M.E. Voss, who did her best to unearth and preserve the specimen—the fi rst prehistoric dugout to be found, restored, and exhibited in the USSR. She died before being able to describe the boat in detail. Its age is still problematic. Though it is exhibited among the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic fi nds and has been tentatively dated to the third or early second millennium BC, certain facts relating to the archaeological context contradict this date, and no radiocarbon analysis has been conducted. A brief review of purportedly Stone Age dugouts from Europe is provided with reference to discovery, restoration, and exhibiting. Most appear to be younger than the Stone Age.

De hidtil to eneste danske bådfund fra bronzealderen, stammebådene fra Varpelev på Østsjælland og Vestersø i Vestjylland, detailfremlægges og diskuteres. Det sandsynliggøres, at begge både på forskellig vis har haft en tilknytning til det lokalområde, hvori de er fundet. Gennem en sammenligning med samtidige fund af stammebåde fra Skandinavien, det Europæiske Kontinent samt de Britiske Øer, vises det, at de to danske fund først og fremmest knytter an til en vesteuropæisk formtradition. Et af denne traditions mest karakteristiske træk er tværgående ribber, udhugget i stammebådenes indre bund. Disse forekommer primært i perioden fra slutningen af det 3. årtusind f.v.t. til tidsregningens begyndelse, og optræder i vidt forskellige maritime topografier. Ribberne synes ikke at have en praktisk funktion, og det foreslås, at de skal opfattes som en skeuomorf – et lånetræk – fra samtidens plankebyggede både, der indtil videre kun kendes fra de Britiske Øer. Stammebådenes tilhuggede ydre, som står i kontrast til ældre fund, vurderes også som en skeuomorf fra planketeknologien. Perspektivet i dette må være, at man kan tale om en interregional maritim teknologi i Vesteuropa og Sydskandinavien i bronzealderen. Antageligt er dette produktet af langtrækkende og professionaliserede maritime netværk, som opbygges i senneolitikum og ældre bronzealder.

In 1946 a dugout canoe was recovered from Deer Pond, a small, one-acre wetland located in an upland saddle in the Town of Pharsalia, Chenango County, NY. Dave Walker, who found the canoe, transported it to the City of Norwich, where it was ultimately put on display at the Chenango County Historical Society Museum. The Canoe is approximately 17 ft long and made from black ash (Fraxinus nigra), and shows several unusual characteristics not found on other canoes from the region. Based upon its shape and location away from navigable waterways, we suspect that the canoe may have been used for harvesting wild rice (Zizania  aquatic) rather than for human transportation. Tree-ring analysis has tentatively placed the age of the canoe in the early part of the eighteenth century (approximately 1720-1725), although it is possible that the canoe is much older. Several sources indicate that wild rice was not heavily utilized by the Iroquois, although it was an important food source to surrounding groups. Consequently, this evidence for wild rice harvesting may coincide with the emergence of refugee settlements along the Chenango and Upper Susquehanna drainages in the early part of the eighteenth century.

In spite of a background of intense aquatic mobility in the Neolithic Aegean Sea, as well as across or along inland waters, concrete evidence from Greece about the craft itself being used only consists of some clay models and a few outlines of lake craft (see Crumlin-Pedersen, 1991).
Both categories are attested at Dispilio (lake of Kastoria, W. Macedonia, at 620masl; Hourmouziadis, 1996), although dating from different phases. The outlines belong to the latest phase, end of Late Neolithic (LN), or beginning of Final Neolithic (FN) (probably circa 4500 BC cal.), while the models were found mostly in the oldest...

The water transport was inherent to all Prehistoric societies, not depending on the climate conditions and the mode of life. The archaeological finds of the forest belt of East European Plain and Trans-Urals contain the indirect evidences of carcass boats, most probably the birch bark canoes, since the Mesolithic. The most ancient logboat in Eastern Europe, dated the Final Stone Age, comes from Lithuania.
The most ancient logboat in Russia found in 1954 near the Schuchye village, Voronezh region, was believed to be the Neolithic, according to some paleopedological observations. Nevertheless, after the AMS-radiocarbon dating recently made in two different laboratories, it was firmly established that the Schuchye 1 logboat belongs to the Late Bronze Age, 18-17 cc. cal BC. According to the morphological characteristics it was a cargo vessel 7,5 m long, available for minimum 1000 kg load. Being made of oak, it was slightly unfinished and left at the shore or was accidentally rafted down the river, stuck and then drowned and deeply buried under the alluvial sediments.
The lifestyle of the Srubnaya (Timber-Grave) archaeological culture communities was based on the mobile cattle herding. The existence of a rich cluster of the Srubnaya settlements and burial mounds at the area of Shuchye, generally contemporaneous to the logboat, allows to reconstruct the active interconnections between both banks of the Don River, the constant ties between relatives, and the effective use of multiple local pastures. The logboat was supposed to be a multifunctional vessel, fitted to transport equally the cargo, the people and the cattle.
The use of boats for the livestock transportation between pastures is confirmed by the ethnographical sources describing the Kalmuck people of South Russian steppes. Thus, logboats were essential for the Prehistoric mobile pastoralists, no less than for the hunting or farming societies.

The submerged settlement of ‘La Marmotta’ (Anguillara Sabazia, Roma) in Lake Bracciano is a biological archive of exceptional importance. It represents the oldest Neolithic lake settlement in all of Europe (sixth millennium BC) and has produced a considerable amount of data. The archaeological surfaces of damp sites offer a rich source of paleo-environmental, biological and cultural data. The excellent state of preservation of organic remains buried in submerged settlements permits detailed reconstruction of the way of life of ancient human communities, the surrounding natural habitat, and the relationship between man and the environment.
The treatment of a large, one-piece oak canoe, found in the village under 8 m of water was described to illustrate the restoration procedures.